The King's Daughter

52 Last Day Alive

Tomorrow I would lose Louis. I was unable to eat anything all day. Anything that went down my throat came right back up. My eyes were constantly swollen from crying and my chest hurt. To put things simply, I was a mess.

Even though Felix followed me everywhere, Silas still demanded a private audience with me once in a while to make sure I hadn't gone to see Louis. It seemed he didn't know of my secret visit last night, thankfully. Each time with Silas, he would show more and more of his true colors. He was abusive, plain and simple and I would never allow my father to marry us. Honestly, I'd rather die than marry him and I told my father so that evening in his study.

"You can't expect me to marry him, dad." I said in frustration.

"It has to be this way. Trust me, Aria. I know what I'm doing." He replied as he scratched his beard from his place behind his desk.

"He's a jerk!" I insisted.

"I haven't seen any behavior that would suggest he's anything but a gentleman, sweetheart. You shouldn't insult a prince from another kingdom just to try and get me to change my mind." He said calmly.

Running a hand through my waves in irritation, I knew he wasn't going to believe me unless I told him the truth. Right now it sounded like I was just making excuses to get out of it. But Silas really was a jerk, he was more than a jerk. I needed to get Silas out of here and the king was the only one who could do that.

So I took a chance.

"Dad, I need to tell you something..." I lowered my voice and glanced at the closed double doors, hoping the guards on the other side couldn't hear through the thick wood.

Leaning across the desk, I whispered, "Silas has been treating me poorly. He's physically hit me several times and forces me to listen to him. He even told me not to see Louis or tell anyone about this or he'd kill Louis. I'm risking a lot by telling you this, but I know you're the only one who can help me. Dad please, send Silas away."

My heart pounded in my chest, waiting for him to explode in rage and kick Silas out on the street, but he sat there stroking his beard.

"Aria, this has gone far enough. It was one thing calling him a jerk, but to accuse this young man of abuse is unacceptable. You could hurt someone deeply by falsely claiming such a thing." He seemed disappointed in me.

"You don't believe me?" I whispered in shock.

"You've been trying to get him out of here since the day he came. Your judgment is clouded right now because of that criminal in the dungeon. Aria, stop this. It's time to grow up and accept your duties." The king said as he shakily stood to his feet, grabbing his cane.

"I'm not trying to be dramatic! I'm serious. Silas is abusing me and if you're too stubborn to believe it than I'll deal with it myself even if I have to physically drag that spoiled prince back to Islanda myself." I exclaimed.

"Don't raise your voice to me." He warned.

"I'd rather die than marry that piece of trash!" I yelled, walking to the door.

"Come back here. We have more to discuss." He said.

"Unless you're going to tell me that you're letting Louis live and banishing Prince Silas from Verdelle, then I don't want to hear it. If I can't have Louis, than you can't have me." I lashed out as I exited and slammed the door behind me.

The guards standing outside avoided my gaze as I walked past them. I hoped they hadn't heard our argument, but it was likely they did once we started yelling at each other. Since they weren't Silas's bodyguards though, they should keep it to themselves. I would shoot Silas in the face myself before I let him kill my love.